By Nanette Guadalquiver/PNA
BACOLOD CITY — The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will construct a “new generation” complex in this city to “further calibrate and enrich the growth of Bacolod.”
“Bacolod City has consistently seen vigorous economic expansion, expanding infrastructure development, and a high influx of investments. Indeed, it is among the most active growth corridors in the country,” BSP Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said in a message read by Monetary Board member Felipe Medalla during the groundbreaking and time capsule laying rites held on Wednesday.
The structure, which will rise on a 5,000-square meter property at the reclamation area, will be the future home of the BSP-Bacolod Branch, which has been occupying a building on corner Lacson St. and Luzuriaga St. for more than 30 years.
Espenilla said the new complex will enable the BSP to enhance its services, particularly in the areas of currency management, financial inclusion, and financial and economic awareness.
He added the BSP looks forward to sustaining its support for the city’s mission “to endeavor to build, strengthen, and enhance Bacolod’s economic fundamentals, infrastructure, social services, human resources and public governance.”
Mayor Evelio Leonardia, who was the special guest during the rites, said that if the BSP is expanding its operations in Bacolod, it must have seen something right in the city.
“Thank you so much for making us feel assured and we are flattered by your confidence. This is quite awesome for us here in Bacolod to have the Monetary Board transplanted in Bacolod City, finally,” the mayor said in his message.
Leonardia added that for Bacolod, which is one of the most business-friendly and the most competitive cities in the country, the BSP expansion, as well as the recent opening of the Securities and Exchange Commission extension office, completes its picture as a growing and dynamic city.
“Altogether, having the Bangko Sentral, I believe it has completed the picture in Bacolod. Together with the people of Bacolod and all these dynamic people who are making Bacolod grow by leaps and bounds, we welcome you and we hope to see that Bacolod will even grow faster because you’re here. So, if you grow, we grow and let us grow together,” the mayor added.
During the ceremony, Medalla was joined by other Monetary Board members, among them Juan de Zuñiga Jr., Peter Favila, Antonio Abacan Jr., and V. Bruce Tolentino, as well as BSP officer-in-charge and governor’s alternate Diwa Guinigundo, deputy governor Chuchi Fonacier, and BSP Bacolod deputy director Joanne Marie Castelo.
